On a day like any other dayPavement turning redJohnny laid down in the alleywayDied with a song in his headA long, long way from SpringhillIn an unforgiving gameCame by with an eye for the spotlights looking for aPlace to make a nameSo risk all or don't risk anythingYou can lose all the same

Johnny hit town on a windy dayOne morning in the fallCouldn't smell the grass or the trees for the paper millJust another job and that was all

Every night looks like the next oneEvery hotel in every townMaybe in a smile he found varietyWith a little rye to wash it downWhen he played he was an animalWith a bow and roving eye, moving like a man undone, incredibleCouldn't win but he could tryThat night he played like a warriorLike he never had beforeMaybe they were songs about a better lifeThan the one he'd settled forAnd by the time the night took JohnnyHe'd won his soul but lost a war

Followed him out to the alleywayWith a blade he was taken downHe died so far from home and familyIn an unfamiliar townThat night the sky had an open eyeHe was left there in the rainIt washed his life to the shadowsBefore he even made a stainJohnny took his last bow runningAnd never picked up a bow again